3 Australian Chefs Share The Most Memorable Meals of Their Lives

Food memories are made of places that stir the senses and linger in the mind, long after the last plate has left the table. From discovering local gems to revisiting traditions and unlocking career inspiration, three Australian chefs reveal where they had the most memorable meals of their lives (thus far).

Chef Paul Farag: Schwartz's deli in Montréal

The warm and buzz of an iconic Montréal; deli has stayed with Paul Farag, chef at Aalia in Sydney.

It was deep in the Canadian winter of 2019 and I was in Montréal on a self-guided food tour. I wanted to explore the city’s culinary scene, especially after hiring two Canadians who spoke highly of it. I booked a few restaurants but in between lunch and dinner one day, I snuck into Schwartz’s deli. I paid for it later, struggling to get through a foie-stuffed pig’s trotter at Au Pied de Cochon, but it was absolutely worth it.

My partner, Leonie, and I ordered a smoked brisket sandwich, a turkey sandwich, fries, poutine and a few sour gherkins to cut through the meat sweats. It was my first poutine – not for the faint of heart. I probably didn’t need the fries on top. But the smoked beef? Juicy, generous, balanced by the soft white bread and a lick of mustard. The bread really matters, as does the ratio of meat to it – if it’s not right, the whole thing is off. This was bang-on.

The way the place smelled stands out clear as day in my memory: warm and spicy, like any good deli, with whole briskets lining the front window, almost sweet and utterly intoxicating. The room was abuzz with locals and tourists, elbows out, ordering fast.

It wasn’t fancy and that’s why I loved it. Schwartz’s has been open for nearly 100 years doing the same thing and doing it well. That kind of consistency is rare. It also brought back memories of my father’s Eastern European deli, where I’d help out after school (and help myself to cold cuts and conserves – sorry, Dad).

Montréal’s food scene doesn’t get the love it deserves. I miss it. If I lived closer, I’d definitely be a few kilos heavier.

Schwartz’s, 3895 St Laurent Boulevard, Montréal, Canada; +1 514 842 4813

Aalia, Shop 7-8, 25 Martin Place, Sydney; +61 2 9182 5880

Chef Dom Gattermayr: Gasthaus Hudenwirt

Family meets tradition in a favourite restaurant in Austria for Dom Gattermayr, co-owner and chef of Florian and Juniper in Melbourne.

Visiting Gasthaus Hudernwirt is something of a pilgrimage for my family. My dad is Austrian, born and raised in Wels, about two hours drive west of Vienna, and my grandmother still lives there. My most recent meal there was last year. We got together for my birthday with my sister, her husband, my oma and my partner, who had never been to Austria before and was eager for the full experience – once he saw the waiters in lederhosen, he knew he was in for all that and more.

We didn’t hold back. We’re talking surbraten, which is pork that’s pickled then roasted and served with a pork sauce, boiled potatoes, bread dumplings, cabbage rolls, veal schnitzel, more boiled potatoes, sauerkraut with speck and backhendl, which is Austria’s fried chicken, and plenty of chips.

Worried we didn’t have quite enough protein and cabbage on the table, we doubled (tripled?) down on the pork, with gigantic pork knuckles and sauerkraut served on gorgeous Gmundner ceramics.

The restaurant raises its own pigs, farms its own trout and brews its own cider, and the olfactory experience as you approach it from the carpark is, shall we say, authentic. But once inside, you’re engulfed in the pleasing smell of cooking pork and buttery potatoes.

The place is always busy. It has the feeling of a small ski chalet but in the summer the beer garden is green with grass and abuzz with bees. Being a traditional Austrian restaurant, it also has a reputation for its cakes and you can see all the dessert options lined up behind the bar. This time we went with the kardinalschnitte, a soft meringue cake with sweet cream and berries sandwiched in the middle.

Just thinking about that meal fills me with nostalgia. It’s my longest-standing food tradition and one I hope to continue forever.

Gasthaus Hudernwirt Taxlbergstraße 27, 4641 Steinhaus bei Wels, Austria; +43 7242 27504

Florian 617 Rathdowne Street, Carlton North, Victoria

Juniper 269 Coventry Street, South Melbourne, Victoria

Chef Louis Tikaram: Lung King Heen

Louis Tikaram from Brisbane's Stanley recalls a career-defining meal with mates in Hong Kong.

I was in Hong Kong with best friends Dan Hong and Jowett Yu. Dan had come from Sydney, me from LA and we were excited to be sharing a meal together. Lung King Heen had been on my bucket list for years – dining there with two of the best eaters I know was a pinch-me moment.

Our first dish, steamed rice rolls with lobster and water chestnut in fermented bean sauce, had the most impressive textures: the softness of the fresh rice noodles contrasted with the lobster and the crunch of the water chestnut. The scallop and lobster dumplings were subtle, silky, with the right amount of seasoning. Then a flavour bomb: steamed Shanghainese pork dumplings with conpoy [dried scallop], which gave it a real punch.

I don’t think I’ve eaten anything quite like the sliced marinated abalone with red jellyfish. This was the first time I’d had red jellyfish and it was draped over steamed asparagus with the abalone and a chilli soy dressing. Again, that attention to texture – the velvety shellfish and the fresh snap of the asparagus. We closed the meal with showstoppers: crisp suckling pig on spring onion pancakes with hoisin and hot English mustard, and baked barbecue pork buns – soft pastry on the bottom, crisp flaky pastry on top and luscious pork in between.

It makes me happy that I was able to share such a memorable lunch with friends. It was also a pivotal point in my career, realising I could take the fine-dining skills I’d learnt at Tetsuya’s and Bentley and put them with flavours from my Cantonese grandmother’s cooking. A few months later, I opened Stanley in Brisbane.

Lung King Heen Four Seasons Hotel Hong Kong, 8 Finance Street, Central, Hong Kong; + 852 3196 8888

Stanley 5 Boundary Street, Brisbane, Queensland; +61 7 3558 9418